


The Sweetest Feeling in the World

by ivory_keys



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Could be relationship could be friends, Diabetes, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Niall has Diabetes, Sick Niall, Sickfic, works either way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 12:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5334083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivory_keys/pseuds/ivory_keys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall feels ill and finds out he's diabetic. Liam is there to help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sweetest Feeling in the World

Harry crouched down on the floor with a kernel of popcorn his hand. He closed one eye as he moved the kernel back and forth judging the throwing distance. Niall was on the opposite side of the room smiling. “You miss this one and you lose.”

Harry frowned. “Don’t jinx it! Now open your mouth so I can take the shot.”

Niall flashed Harry a smile, braces and all, before he opened his mouth.

Harry flicked the popcorn kernel through the air and the buttery treat sailed right into Niall’s mouth.

Harry raised his fists in the air. “Gooooooal!”

Niall ran from across the room and jumped into Harry’s arms. The momentum caused them both to collapse to the floor, like real pro football players after a winning goal.

Harry laughed from under Niall. “You didn’t think I could get 20 in a row. You need to have more faith in me Nialler. This is what you get for doubting me.”

He started a round of tickle punishment and soon Niall was a pile of giggles on the floor.

Niall pleaded between laughing and gasping for air. “Stop… please… I’m… sorry…”

Harry kept tickling him. “What did you say? I can’t hear you.”

Niall whined as he managed to squirm out of Harry’s grip. “Harry pleeease. I have to pee!”

Harry laughed. “That better be true. If you’re lying just so that I stop tickling you - .”

Niall stood up and did the equivalent to an Irish jig. “I’m not lying. I’ll be right back.”

Niall raced into the bathroom and took care of business. When he came out, he sighed to himself. _That was really weird. One second I was playing around with Harry and the next second I was about to wee my pants. I usually have more of a warning than that._

Niall spent a few more seconds thinking about it, but decided to shrug it off and go back to Harry.

Harry had moved from the floor to the couch and Liam had joined him. Instead of throwing popcorn, Harry was happily eating it, while Liam was scrolling through the movies on Netflix. Liam didn’t look away from the TV, as he patted the empty place on the couch next to him. “Come watch a movie with us.”

Niall happily joined them and reached over Liam to grab a handful of popcorn from Harry. Louis was sitting on a chair next to the trio on the couch. Louis scrolled through his phone as Liam continued to scroll through the movie selections.

Niall took a water bottle from the table and downed about half of it at once. He wasn’t sure why he was so thirsty, but he figured it was from the salty popcorn. It didn’t dawn on him that the popcorn was unsalted and he only had a handful.

Liam settled on _Jaws_ and Niall settled on cuddling against Liam.

Harry threw a kernel of popcorn at Louis. “Lou, get off your phone and come sit on the couch with us.”

Louis whined. “I’d love to, but Facebook isn’t going to update itself.”

Harry didn’t like that excuse and wrestled Louis from the chair to the couch. Louis protested, but eventually gave in and squeezed in on the couch with Harry cuddling against his chest.

Niall finished his water bottle in record time and moved on to drinking Liam’s. When he finished that one as quickly as the first, he reached for Harry’s. Harry had already drank half of it so Niall easily finished it off too.

When Niall’s thirst was finally satisfied, he went back to cuddling against Liam’s arm.

It didn’t take long before Niall was squirming from all the water. He didn’t want to ask Liam to pause the movie at the best part, plus it was almost over, so he tried to sit still and wait.

As soon as the credits started, he made a mad dash for the bathroom.

Harry teased Niall by yelling from the couch. “That’s what happens when you drink everyone’s water.”

When Niall returned, his friends had been joined by their security guard Paul, and that usually signaled it was time to work.

The task for today was a few hours of vocal lessons. Niall really enjoyed the vocal training. He usually convinced the vocal coach to let him play the guitar during the end of lessons and his three friends would sing along to all the songs he knew. His musical catalogue was mainly filled with current pop songs so everyone knew the words.

Sometimes he would play an older song because he knew that only Liam would know it. He loved the chance to be the only one harmonizing with his guitar and Liam. This may also have to do with the small crush Niall had developed on Liam.

Everyone piled into the van. Niall and Liam took the back row and Harry and Louis took the row in front of them.

Louis and Harry turned to face the others as Niall cracked open another bottle of water.

Louis raised an eyebrow. “You might want to chill with the water. If you keep going like this, you’re going to float away.”

Niall tilted his head back further and drank the rest of the bottle defiantly. He held the bottle with a grip that allowed him to give the middle finger to Louis while drinking.

Before Louis could retaliate, he was distracted by Harry trying to steal his beanie. Niall was left in peace to open another water bottle.

Liam took Niall’s wrist before his dehydrated friend started drinking. “Seriously, is everything ok?”

Niall assured Liam that he was fine, but that changed in a matter of minutes. All the water that he had been drinking had kicked his kidneys into overdrive before, but this time the water wanted to come out of the other end.

Niall felt a wave of nausea crash over him. He pressed a tightly clenched fist over his mouth and moaned.

Liam got the message loud and clear and immediately and yelled to the driver. “We gotta stop. Niall’s about to puke.”

The van pulled over and Niall tumbled his way out. He barely got out of the van before all the water he had downed started coming back up.

The water was followed by his lunch, as everything came back in a forceful manner. His hand was braced against the door of the van for support, but when he was hit with a sudden wave of dizziness, he stumbled forward. He balanced himself hunched over with his hands on his thighs as he continued to empty his stomach.

There wasn’t anything left to cough up at his point so he removed one hand from his thigh and put it on his stomach as he started the painful round of dry heaving.

His friends had left him alone so he could have a little privacy, but Liam couldn’t help taking a peek outside just to make sure Niall was ok.

Liam saw Niall struggling and was quick to run over and put an arm around the poor boy. Niall was glad that the gagging was dying down. This was more than a little embarrassing to do in front of Liam.

Niall panted for air, hoping the ordeal was over, as Liam rubbed his back. Niall tried to speak between gasps. “No big deal… happens all the time… after a late night at the pub…”

Niall had lost count as to how many times that watching a football game at the pub with friends ended in similar way as this.

Liam offered Niall a water bottle. “Here, mate. Use this to rinse out your mouth.”

Just the sight of water made Niall’s stomach churn again, but he did as Liam said.

After another minute, Niall’s urge to throw up his entire stomach had lessened, but he was still feeling queasy. He didn’t want to make the guys miss practice so he took a deep breath and straightened up. He put on the most convincing smile that he could muster, but his eyes were still winced in a painful way. “We gotta get to practice. I’ll be ok till we get there.”

Niall wasn’t sure if that statement was true because his newest symptom was making the world spin in front of him, but the privacy of a bathroom was more desirable than continuing on the side of the road. The last thing he wanted was a picture of himself vomiting on the side of the road on the cover of the tabloids.

Liam helped Niall back into the van and Niall tried not to make eye contact with anyone. Getting sick in front of his friends left him absolutely mortified. He hoped his scarlet colored face could pass for illness rather than the extreme embarrassment he was feeling.

He crawled into the backseat and buried his head in his hands. He didn’t need to be able to see his friends to recognize their voices.

Harry’s voice was first. “Ni, what’s wrong? What happened? Are you ok?”

Niall supplied a soft whimper instead of an answer.

The next sound was Liam mumbling something quietly and that ended Harry’s questions.

Liam put his protective arms around Niall and Niall wished that this would be enough to make him feel better. Unfortunately it wasn’t.

The ride was feeling like the longest car ride Niall had ever taken. He tried to relax in Liam’s arms, but all the water was started to travel to his bladder again. He shut his eyes and tried to ride out all of the unpleasant sensations going through his body.

Liam rubbed Niall’s back as he started shaking. Liam leaned over and whispered into Niall’s ear. “Are you cold?”

Niall shook his head and put his hand between his legs as he continued to make soft whimpering sounds.

Liam gave an understanding sigh. “It’s ok. We’re almost there.”

Liam tried the best he could to make Niall comfortable, but it was obvious that Niall wasn’t going to be able to hold out until they got to vocal rehearsal. He asked Paul if they could stop as soon as possible.

The closest pit stop was a McDonald’s and for some miraculous reason it was nearly empty inside. Liam wasn’t sure if Niall could walk so he carried him piggyback style into the fast food place. He dropped Niall off at the bathroom, but decided to stay to make sure he didn’t pass out on the tile floor.

Louis and Harry walked over to the register. Harry looked up at the menu on the wall thoughtfully. “Do you think a happy meal will make Niall feel better?”

Louis laughed, but it was a nervous, uneasy laugh. Louis cleared his throat hoping to clear away the fear in his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Harry. Louis rarely acted like the oldest of the group, but right now he had to step up and keep Harry calm.

Louis would normally do something flirty to distract Harry, but they were in public so cheeky PDA wasn’t really an option.

Louis decided that putting his arm around Harry was acceptable social behavior and he gave Harry’s curls a ruffle just because he couldn’t resist.

Harry smiled at the affection, but his brow quickly furrowed in concentration again. “Maybe a sundae would be better.”

Harry’s food selection debate was cut short by the sound of Liam yelling Louis’ name from the bathroom.

Louis and Harry ran to see what was wrong.

Niall was sitting on the bathroom floor, leaning against the wall. His eyes were unfocused and he was shivering.

Liam was standing with one hand to his forehead and the other hand holding his phone. His voice was rushed. “Yeah, Paul? Niall is really sick. You gotta call an ambulance. Should I take him back to the car to meet you, or should I leave him on the floor?”

Liam nodded as Paul gave directions.

Louis held Harry’s hand to make sure he wouldn’t freak out and knelt down to be eye to eye with Niall. Louis keep his voice calm. “Can you talk to me Niall?”

Niall blinked his unfocused eyes to Louis direction. Niall’s words were slurred and barely understandable. “Louweh… dun feeh guh.”

Louis nodded. “You don’t feel good?”

Niall nodded.

Louis tried to ignore the crushing grip that Harry was squeezing his hand with.

Liam crouched down on Niall’s other side. “Don’t worry mate. The ambulance is coming.”

Niall moaned. His speech was a little better, but he started to drift. “Nooo… dun wanna go to hopuhtal…”

Liam put his hand on Niall’s shoulder. “Just relax. Help is coming.”

Niall’s eyes rolled back in his head.

Louis heard Harry gasp and knew this was a good time to get him out of the room. He left Liam with Niall and put some distance between Harry and a slowly declining Niall.

Liam wiped the tears away from his eyes as his heart pounded. The only thing louder than the pounding of his heart was his internal screaming for the ambulance to arrive.

He sniffed as Niall’s eyes rolled back and then tried to focus again. “Ni, buddy, can you hear me?”

Niall blinked, trying to focus. “Mmm… Li….m’scared.”

Liam wiped more tears away. “There’s no need to be. I’m here.”

Niall started to shake more and Liam rubbed his back and started to sing. He hummed the first song he could think of and it happened to be Little Things.

Niall stopped shaking as violently and his eyes briefly focused on Liam a few times during the song.

Liam was midway through when Niall smiled. “Dat s’my part.”

His eyes blinked closed and didn’t open this time.

Liam stopped singing and shook Niall. “Oh my God! Niall? Niall!!”

Niall moaned, but didn’t open his eyes.

Liam felt a wave of panic hit him, but thankfully the paramedics were already rushing into the bathroom.

There were two paramedics. One was putting an oxygen mask over Niall’s nose and mouth and another was wrapping a blood pressure cuff around his arm.

The paramedic that had put the oxygen on Niall took it off for a second and sniffed close to his face. He put the oxygen back in place and looked at Liam. “What dose of insulin is your friend on?”

Liam stuttered. “W-what? I don’t – I just – Oh God.”

The medical worker put his hand on Liam’s back. “It’s going to be ok. Your friend is having a diabetic attack. I just need to know how much insulin he took.”

Insulin? Diabetes? This was all too much for Liam to process.

Liam shook his head. “He’s not on any insulin. Niall’s n-not diabetic.”

The paramedic reached into his medical bag and took out a diabetic test meter. He pricked Niall’s finger and waited for the results to show up. He talked to Liam as he did the test. “I have to check his levels before I give him anything.”

The insulin meter beeped and the paramedic gave a satisfied hum. He reached into his bag again and took out an IV bag. He kept talking to Liam as he did this as well. “Your friend is severely hyperglycemic. That means that his blood sugar is extremely high. I’m starting an IV line so that we can bring his blood sugar levels down and also so we can rehydrate him. Was he drinking lot and peeing a lot?”

Liam bit his lip. “Yes. He threw up too.”

He attached the needle to the bag. “The excessive thirst and frequent urination are usually the first signs that someone’s diabetic. Your friend Niall will have to carry insulin with him at all times to prevent this from happening. He…”

Liam nodded as the worker’s words muted into a hum of white noise. It was too much information to absorb at once. This morning, Niall was happy and healthy as could be and now he was lying on the McDonald’s bathroom floor.

Liam tried to keep breathing steadily so that he wouldn’t need an oxygen mask as well.

For the first time since the incident, Liam took a look past his immediate surroundings. There were a few wide eyed spectators, but thankfully none of them had cell phone cameras pointed their way.

Louis and Harry were also missing from the scene. Liam had assumed that Paul was in the van with them trying to keep that half of One Direction calm. Liam was in charge of the other half’s wellbeing.

Liam looked back at Niall and was surprised to see Niall’s bright blue eyes blinking back at him. Liam yelled. “Niall?! Can you hear me?!”

Niall’s eyes squinted because Liam yelled that loud enough for someone a mile away to hear it. Niall gave a reassuring nod.

Liam was practically beaming at this point. “It’s alright, mate. You’re going to the hospital.”

Niall’s eyes opened wide, but Liam tried to calm him. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll be riding in the ambulance with you.”

Niall’s eyes returned to their normal size.

The paramedic took off Niall’s blood pressure cuff. “Your friend was really worried about you.”

Liam blushed, but still looked at Niall. “Yeah, well I thought you were a goner. I forgot about the luck of the Irish.”

Even Niall’s oxygen mask couldn’t mute his trademark laugh.

The paramedic put a hand on Niall’s shoulder. “You were very lucky, son. This could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for your friend’s quick thinking. I don’t want to alarm you, but I’m fairly sure you have diabetes. You’ll have to be checked out at the hospital to be sure, though.”

The oxygen mask made Niall’s response hard to understand, but Liam was pretty sure that Niall hadn’t just said duck.

The paramedic took Niall’s blood pressure cuff off. “I’m going to go back to the ambulance and get a stretcher.”

Niall moved the oxygen mask away from his mouth so he could talk. His voice was raspy. “I think I can walk.”

The paramedic shook his head. “I can’t allow that.”

Niall seemed to be upset by the idea of being strapped down to a stretcher so Liam offered a solution. “I can carry him. I don't mind. You’re parked right outside so I can handle the short walk.”

The paramedic nodded. “Alright.”

He helped hoist Niall on Liam’s back, piggyback style. Niall held Liam around the neck and Liam wrapped his arms under Niall’s legs to support him. Liam started to carry Niall out of the bathroom, with the paramedic walking alongside him, holding onto Niall’s IV bag.

Liam stopped for a second. He readjusted his arms and bounced Niall up to get a better grip. Niall winced when the IV needle moved, but the paramedic held onto the bag and made sure it didn’t jostle too much.

Liam spotted Paul in the van, and signaled to him with a head tilt that he was going to go with Niall. Liam reached the back of the ambulance and smiled. “Looks like the piggyback ride is over.”

The paramedic lifted Niall from Liam’s back and into the ambulance. The siren blared as they headed to the hospital.

Liam looked out of the back window and saw Paul following behind closely. Paul had no trouble keeping up as the ambulance weaved through traffic. He had done the same thing countless time when he was driving the boys away from rabid fans or aggressive paparazzi.

The oxygen made Niall’s voice low and scratchy. It was almost too low to hear over the sirens. “I don’t want to be diabetic.”

Liam nodded. “I know, but it’s ok. I’ll be here to help.”

Those words were enough to keep Niall calm for the rest of the ride.

They were the words that helped Niall’s heart from beating out of his chest when the ambulance pulled up to the hospital.

They were the words that Niall held onto as he held onto Liam during his piggyback ride into the building that was going to tell him the worst news of his life.

They were the words that he took literally when halfway through the piggyback ride he whispered in Liam’s ear to ask the paramedic if he could take a stop at the bathroom first before he exploded.

They were the words that he replayed in his head when the hospital ran every test imaginable and he was afraid he wouldn’t have any more blood in his body after they were done.

They were the words that he heard Liam said again when he couldn’t stop crying after the doctor told him that he had type 1 diabetes.

They were the words that his other bandmates echoed when they came in his room with flowers and stuffed bears and a very odd stuffed banana.

As Niall closed his eyes to go to sleep, he hummed those words in his head. It would be ok and his friends would be there to help. That was all the strength Niall needed.

Niall smiled a dreamy smile and mumbled into his pillow. “I’m good. Diabetes can kiss my...”

He trailed off as sleep finally caught up with him. He was going to have a hard road ahead of him, but for now a good night’s sleep was the best medicine he could take.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not diabetic so I hope I was accurate with the facts. Please let me know what you think. Comments are always welcomed.


End file.
